


Emma's Naked and Afraid Challenge

by herblondetoy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:55:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herblondetoy/pseuds/herblondetoy
Summary: "Why are you laughing, Ma? She got chased by a wild boar." "She's weak. Didn't even last two days. I could totally do this show." Regina chuckled. "You wouldn't last a night." Emma stands and takes her sweatshirt off, leaving her in her tank (for now). She hands her bottle to Regina. "Hold my beer. I'll be back in a week." And the challenge begins. M for language
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 132





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me a while ago, but it won't leave. Here's my one-shot…hopefully it'll just be a one-shot. In this story, Cora is alive and Maleficent lives there as well. Cuz that's fun. It was meant to be a quick, fun and funny one-shot, but it turned into a long, fun, funny, then deep and even a bit scary one-shot lol…that may have a sequel. Anyway, here you go.

_**Read~ Review~Enjoy** _

**Emma's Naked and Afraid Challenge**

**Night 1**

The Swan-Mills family all sat in the living room watching Emma's new favorite show Naked and Afraid. Regina has no idea why they're watching it, but her wife and son seem to be into it, so she's happy. It was early April, but the chill in the air outside had her light a fire inside, so she happily stared at the flames as her wife and son commented on the show.

Emma laughs as a contestant gets hooked to a stretcher and carried off.

"Why are you laughing, Ma? She got chased by a wild boar."

"She's weak. Didn't even last two days. I could totally do this show."

Regina chuckled. "You wouldn't last a night."

Emma stands and takes her sweatshirt off, leaving her in her tank (for now). She hands her bottle to Regina. "Hold my beer. I'll be back in a week." With that, she heads upstairs and grabs a camera, and her pocketknife and comes back down, only to go out back.

"You did it now, mom." Henry says, shaking his head.

Regina shouldn't be surprised, but she is. "Oh, I'll make this fun." She says, getting her phone out to call Ruby and Mal, but then decides on something else first. "Come on, Henry." She goes outback with Henry following and folds her arms. "Okay, if you're doing this, we're doing this the right way." She holds her hand out and poofs a cuff to it. "No magic" She said, putting it on Emma. "No cell phones, no technology."

"I don't have a film crew; I need the camera to film what I'm doing to prove I did it." Emma said.

"It's my camera." Henry said and sighed. "Fine, you can use it, but the battery probably won't last more than 24 hours."

"Neither will your ma." Regina said with a smirk.

"I will too." She said and looked at Henry. "Can you charge the spare and have your mom magic it to me and take this one and we'll keep switching?"

"Sure." He agreed and then looked around. "Ma, you can't go around the neighborhood naked."

"I know that kid, I'm going to the woods." She looked at Regina. "Will you take me?"

"Yes. Henry, say goodbye to your mother. You won't see her for a few hours."

Emma rolled her eyes and hugged Henry. "I'll see you in a week, kid. If the wild gets to me, don't forget me. Remember that I love you."

"I love you too, Ma." Henry said, trying not to roll his eyes. "See you later." He then went in and Regina grabbed Emma's hand, poofing them to the edge of the woods.

"This is where you get naked." The brunette said with a smirk. "Let's see how long your skinny ass lasts out here in the cold."

"Hey! You said you liked my ass." Emma said as she started taking her clothes off. "I mean, not everyone can have a big ass like yours."

"Excuse me? I do not have a 'big ass'." Regina said. "I have a perfectly acceptable normal sized ass." Regina shook her head, getting back to the task at hand. "Okay, you have 5 days to make it to the middle of the woods, live for a while, and come back. Everything must be recorded or doesn't count. I'll send and take the battery each day and Emma, if anything happens, I have to know." Regina said, pressing a spot on Emma's neck. "Think of it as a magical chip." Sure, it would send notification to Regina should Emma actually be in danger, however, it also gave Regina the ability to 'spy' on her wife. She knew this would make for great viewing pleasure. She then produced a canvas bag and handed it to Emma. "A map, your knife, the camera, a pot to boil water, and some flint. Good luck." Regina stated before kissing her.

Emma kissed her back, trying to hide the fact she was already shivering. She then put the bag over her shoulder and nodded. "I love you. Never forget me!" She said before turning and heading into the woods.

"Such an idiot." Regina mumbled and then shook her head, poofing to Granny's.

"Shut up. Emma's currently walking around the woods naked?" Ruby asked, clutching her side in laughter. "She's lucky it's not wolves time, however, there is real danger out there, Regina."

"Oh, I know. The idiot thinks she's alone, but she's protected." Regina said, sipping her drink. She looked at Ruby, Zelena, Mal and Cora who were all in the booth and lowered her voice. "I can see her any time I want. We can watch her if we want to."

"I totally want to watch!" Zelena cackled.

"Me too!"

"Watch what?" The group froze at the voice and all eyes turned to Snow standing nearby. She raised her brows. "What? Where's Emma?" Everyone but Regina burst out in laughter and Snow was starting to get upset. "What is going on?"

"Calm down, Snow." Regina sighed and rolled her eyes as she moved over to make room for her mother in law. "Have you seen that show Naked and Afraid?"

"Oh, Emma told David about it and he loves watching it. I don't really see the appeal myself though."

"Of course he does." Cora said, sipping at her dry martini.

"Your daughter thinks she's so strong and brave that she is currently naked in the woods for seven days." Regina stated, not sure how else to say it. "Before you blame me, all I said was that she wouldn't make it fifteen minutes. I didn't know she'd actually…"

"Of course she'd take on a challenge! She can't NOT take a challenge." Snow said, shaking her head. However, after a bit she chuckled. "That girl. She really is her father's daughter. Are you sure she's going to be okay?"

Regina's phone beeped and she grinned. "She's filming something now."

"Let's watch!" Granny said, coming over after hearing all of it.

Regina chuckled and looked around. Seeing no one else there, she locked the door and projected the screen of her phone on the wall as Ruby lowered the lights. "I feel like I need popcorn." Zelena said with a chuckle.

" _So it's been…well I don't know how long because I don't have a watch, but I'd guess it's been about five hours." Emma stated as she looked into the camera._

Regina rolled her eyes. "It's been 45 minutes."

"Shh!" The group said in unison.

" _I tried to start a fire, but I can't find much dry wood and…well I don't know how to use flint. I guess I should have done some research before doing this. I tried rubbing two sticks together, but that did a whole lot of nothing. I should be thankful there's no mosquitos, but this cold is going to get to me faster than anything else. Maybe I'll find a deer or something and use it's hide for protection. I can't really eat it without cooking it, but at least I'd be warm. Gross and bloody, but warm." She sighed and looked around before looking at the camera. "I did find a cave, but I'll have to wait until daylight tomorrow to see if there's anything already living in it. Until then, I'm surrounding myself in leaves…though they're all wet and old. I really should have done this in the summer. Oh well, I can do this. I just need a good night's sleep. Goodbye for now." Emma then fiddled with the camera and turned it off._

However, they could still see her because of Regina's magic. Regina made it so her naughty bits were blurry, but they got the gist. They watched as Emma sat shivering, rocking back and forth. She took her hair down and seemed to use it to warm her back and shoulders.

"Oh, I can't watch this." Mal said and poofed away. The group was confused until they saw Emma stiffen and look all around her. She then got up and went to the source of the sound and came back with some sticks with flames. It didn't take long, and she had a good fire going. Mal came back and sipped her drink.

"Mal, you softy." Regina said with a smirk. "But it's so wet out there, how did she get that fire going?"

"Those flames will never die. They instantly dry anything added to them. Look, I can't stand to see her cold, but that doesn't mean I won't have some fun with this. Let her feel safe first, feel like she's got it easy. Then, I'll pounce."

"She knows you're a dragon though." Ruby stated as Regina turned off the picture.

"She does, but she doesn't know I can change into anything else I want to." Mal said and looked over. "I can join you as a wolf if you want."

"Yes! Let's do that."

"Okay, but not tomorrow, we'll wait until Thursday. Let her have tomorrow to be big, bad Emma." Mal said with a chuckle.

"You guys are terrible." Cora stated. "Poor girl just wants to have some fun." She then looked at Regina. "I want regular updates. I want to watch every minute of this."

Regina smirked. "Don't worry, you will. I'll go through everything and piece things together like the show." She then looked at the time. "I need to get back to Henry." Looking at Snow, she added. "Don't worry. I'll know if she's in danger in any way."

"I trust you. I mean, if it were me out there, maybe not, but you love Emma and I know you'd never let harm come to her." She chewed her lip. "Also, I want to be invited to the watch parties."

"You will, don't worry."

When Regina got home, she had a long talk with Henry about the safety precautions she put in place and how Mal helped Emma. She wanted to reassure him that Emma would be safe in all of this. She then locked up and headed to bed, missing her idiotic wife.

Emma lay as close to the fire as possible, still trying to convince herself it was some freak lightning that brought the flame and not help from someone back home. Home. Emma missed home. She sighed as she stared into the flames. "I hope I survive this and get back to them." She said, literally ten feet from the opening back into town. Dramatic as always, Emma closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

**Day 2**

Regina woke the next morning and checked in on Emma before doing anything else. To her surprise, she found her wife wide awake and working on what looked to be bedding or possibly something for shelter. With the fire still going strong, she knew that at least she wouldn't freeze out there. "Idiot." Regina muttered as she shook her head and got out of bed and got ready for the day. After getting dressed, she went to Henry's room and found the charged camera battery and used her magic to switch them out.

Emma's first goal of the day was figuring out some protection for her feet. She had woken up with the first rays of sun and her feet felt as though they were on fire. Between ants and the scrapes from walking, she knew she had to try to protect them better when she went hiking further into the woods later. She used leaves and mud and made what she called shoes before she started working on a way to transport her fire. She didn't want to lose it but didn't know if it would work anyway. She used branches and leaves and constructed a sort of tarp to carry it on. She then checked her map and looked around before heading out. In the back of her mind, she knew there was something fishy about the fire, but she wasn't going to dwell on it. She noticed the battery and smiled lightly. "Thanks, Regina." She said softly as she got put in the battery and turned the camera on.

" _Day one and I'm doing great. Yes, it's a bit cold, but once the sun comes out, I can feel its warmth. I had to use some leaves and mud to make these nature shoes because I had all kinds of cuts and ant bites. Of course, that means I'll have to camp out by the stream so I can wash the cuts, but that's where I'm planning on going anyway." She stopped and faced the camera to the map. "I'm guessing I'm about here and I want to get to here. That's about mid forest, and I'll hang out a couple days before going back." Emma the started walking again. "I'm starving though, so once I find my campout place, I hope to also find some food of some sort. Maybe I'll go fishing after I make a spear with a stick. I've seen that done a lot." Emma then tripped and the camera fell. "Fuck. That fucking hurt." She hissed, as she checked to see if she was bleeding. "Okay Swan, no blood, you're good." She picked up the camera. "I'll be back later." Emma turned the camera off and focused on where she was going._

"So, is she still out there?" Lilly asked, coming into Regina's office with Mal. "I hate that I couldn't be there last night, but I'm off work tonight, so I wanna see this."

Regina chuckled and gave a nod, sitting back from her desk. "She is still out there. She's not doing so bad, but your mom helped with that."

"I couldn't help it. The little thing was shivering." Mal drawled, rolling her eyes. "She's in for a surprise if she makes it to tomorrow night. Ruby and I have things planned."

Lilly gasped. "What? You and my girlfriend have plans and you didn't include me?"

"Yes." Mal said. "I'm bonding with her like you asked me to. Besides, you think of Emma like your sister and you'll give it all away."

Regina sighed and looked at Lilly. "I love that you and Emma have such a sisterly bond. It's good for her, so don't take what your mom said as a bad thing." Regina's phone bleeped and she grinned. "Close the door, she's recording." She set her phone and lowered her lights. The picture came up on the wall and the three watched.

" _Okay, so it's like hour 30 or something. I'm not really sure, but it's my first full day out here. I was able to follow the map and found my campout site." She panned the camera around. "I have to start a shelter, but I'm also starving. I made a spear and am going to try to do some fishing. I'm hoping it'll clean out the cuts on my feet as well." Emma then set the camera down and turned it to the stream. Again, Regina blurred out her lady bits and Mal produced some popcorn for them. Emma stepped into the water with her spear and waded until the water was about mid-calf. "It's fucking cold." She said as she shivered and put her hair up, using a stick to keep it in a messy bun. She held the spear and watched the water, stabbing at it after a while. After a few tries, there was a splash as Emma fell in, however, she came out with a pretty nice sized fish in her hand. Once back by the camera, she smiled. "I did it! I'm fucking freezing and wet, but I got me a nice fish!"_

Mal raised a brow. "She's actually not bad at this." She said, a bit surprised. "I mean, I helped her with the fire, but look at everything she's done on her own. She made protection for her feet, she made a tool to catch a fish and actually did it. I can see the beginnings of a shelter in the background, and she made her hair look adorable." She added with a chuckle. She had a fondness for the blonde that she wouldn't admit, but everyone knew about. She protected her the way she did her own daughter, and she was honestly proud of the blonde right now.

"You're not wrong." Lilly stated. "She may be a bit dramatic, but she is surviving."

"Yes, she is." Regina said. "I may have underestimated her; forgot where she came from. Her whole childhood was learning how to adapt and survive, so I don't know why I'm surprised she is doing just that now." They looked back and Regina smiled lightly as they watched.

_Emma was looking at the fish laying on the rock and holding her knife above it. "I'm sorry for doing this but thank you for what you are to provide me." She then looked at the camera. "I'm honestly not sure what I'm doing here, but I figure if I get the scales off, that's a start. I don't want it looking at me either, so I'm going to take its head off." Emma started cutting, her tongue between her teeth as she concentrated. Once the scales and head were off, Emma looked around. "How to cook it now?" She grinned as she found some sticks and set up a spit to roast it. "I hope this doesn't fall into the fire." She cooked the fish, probably longer than needed, but to make sure it was cooked and not raw. As she let it cool, she boiled some water so she could drink that as well. She smiled over at the camera. "That was a good meal. See you all later." She then turned the camera off and set to eating._

**Night 2**

Henry, Regina, Mal, Lilly, Ruby, Cora, and Snow were all in Regina's living room watching Emma's adventure from the day.

"I'm actually really impressed." Henry stated as he watched his mom cook her fish. "She can survive if she needs to. I mean mentally, she may be going crazy, but she's doing it."

"She really is. She's so much liked her father." Snow said and then frowned.

"What's wrong, Snow?" Cora asked. "I think you'd be proud of her."

"I am, but I mean it's also sad. I'm glad she can survive like that, but I hate to think of WHY or HOW it is she can do it. How is it so easy for her to adapt to being without anything? Because she's had experience. That's the only answer, and that answer hurts my heart."

They were all quiet for a moment as the reflected on that. Ruby broke the silence and cleared her throat. "She's back."

" _Hello! It's night two and things actually aren't that bad. My stomach is full…well it's not empty at least, my feet feel better, the fire is keeping me warm and I have a bit of shelter to keep me off the ground and to protect me if it rains." She shifted the camera to show the small 'tent' like structure she had crafted with sticks, mud, leaves, and other forest resources. She then put the camera back on her. "Honestly, I'm having fun so far. Other than the fact that I really miss Henry and Regina and my family, it's not that bad. I always wanted to go camping as a kid and I almost did once, but it wasn't meant to be. This is my chance and I'm embracing it. I know at first, this was supposed to be a fun little challenge to prove to Regina that I could do this. However, the longer I'm out here, the more I see it was to prove it to myself as well. Growing up, I never had anyone. No one to believe in me, no one to support me, no one to care or love me and I survived it. I came through it mostly intact and mostly okay and I think that's okay. But ever since being here, I've been called The Savior. I'm supposed to be some strong, brave, hero, but literally all I did was kiss my kid and break the curse. I feel like…" Emma sighed a bit. "I feel like a disappointment sometimes. Like I have this big title that's supposed to mean something, yet I feel like I got off easy. I mean sure, everyone comes to me whenever something goes wrong, but in return, I go to Regina. Regina is the real hero, the real Savior. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I could be physically and mentally strong. I already know that psychologically, I am stronger than anyone gives me credit for, but physically or even mentally…I wasn't so sure. Regina likes to call me an idiot, and in some ways, maybe I am, and while I know she's just teasing me and doesn't really mean it, it was getting to me. I had to wonder if maybe she was right. Maybe I am an idiot and in my idiotic way, coming out here and doing this proves to me that maybe I do have common sense still. I don't know, maybe none of this is even making sense, and some people won't ever get it, but to me it does. To me, it shows me that I am worthy of being called strong. Maybe not Savior, maybe not Hero, but strong." Emma sighed a bit. "I'll delete that later, but it felt good to get it out now."_

Everyone in the room was quiet as they both watched Emma turn the camera off and stare into the fire, and wiped at their eyes. None of them had been expecting that and all of them were digesting it. Regina felt horrible and couldn't stop herself from actually crying and not just tearing up.

"Regina? Honey, what's wrong?" Snow asked, going over to her.

"I'm such a terrible person. I…I only jokingly called her an idiot not thinking that she'd ever take it so seriously. God, why didn't she tell me it was getting to her? Why didn't I know?"

"Because that's Emma." Lilly said quietly. "I know you know her better than I do now, but I knew her then. I know what she's gone through and how she survived it mentally. God, the fact she doesn't think she's mentally strong kills me." She sighed and looked at Regina. "Her whole life was spent being put down by people. She was constantly told she was stupid, she was unloveable, she was a waste of space, she was ugly, she was this she was that, and after a while, she believed it. However, she hates being pitied and hates having any kind of emotional attention on her. She hides all of that. She buries it deep inside herself and covers it with a mask saying 'I'm fine'. She knows you love her, Regina, and she loves you more than I've ever known someone to love another person – no offense Snow – so if your joking hurt her, she wouldn't tell you, because she'd never admit it. Does that make sense?"

Regina wiped at her eyes and blew her nose. "It does, but I thought she knew she could tell me anything."

Henry cleared his throat. "She does _know_ that, but she's scared to _believe_ it. She's still so scared that one day, we're all going to wake up and realize that we've been wrong about her and she's going to be left alone. Not just by you, mom, but all of us. She thinks we're going to all say she's a fraud and a disappointment and a waste, and 'throw her away'."

"How do you know that?" Snow asked, feeling sick inside that her baby girl still felt like that after all these years.

He looked down. "Don't tell her I said this, I don't even know if she remembers, but a few months ago when Ma and Mom had that fight, she had gotten drunk and I was still up when she got home. She started crying and said she was terrified she "Fucked it up for good" this time. Her words, not mine. She told me all about how she feels as she cried with her head in my lap and then passed out. I tried assuring her that would never happen, but I don't honestly think she even knew I was actually there. I tried talking to her the next day, but she said she had no idea what I was talking about and that if she said anything, it was just drunk rambling."

"That fight wasn't even her fault." Regina said, digesting this information. "That was me taking my stress out on her and I told her that and apologized profusely for it. I thought…I thought she had worked through all of those insecurities."

"You never do though, do you?" Cora asked, sighing. "I mean, you try, and you go on and try being a better you, but you always have those thoughts in the back of your mind. Regina, you and Zelena know that better than anyone else here." Cora looked at Mal and Ruby. "Be gentle with her when you go out there. Have fun, Emma will laugh in the end and be okay with it, but be gentle."

"I…I almost don't want to do it now." Ruby said, chewing her lip. "I want Emma to have this moment. To build herself back up, because she obviously has a need to do that."

"You're right." Mal said. "And we can help her with that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, sure, she can survive a small forest and that'll make her feel good, but imagine how much better she'd feel if she felt she survived even more? She never has to know it was us, but we can provide reasons for her strength and courage to come out. Make her a little scared, make her feel threatened and she will see exactly what she's made out of."

Regina gave a small smile. "I think that's a good idea. While she's out there, I'm going to work on my own project to try and help take away some of those fears."

Snow nodded. "Me too. She needs to understand that she's stuck with us now."

**Day 3**

"But Mal, she knows what I look like as a wolf." Ruby said, as they stood out in the woods.

"I know that, but once you shift, I'm going to change your appearance. Wolves are wonderful, but people seem more scared of coyote's than wolves. I think it's because they're seen more as scavengers, but bobcats are known to these woods as well. What do you prefer?"

"I've never been a type of cat before. Let's do bobcat."

"So be it. Go ahead and change and I'll change you again. It's easier to transform an animal than a human."

Ruby nodded and closed her eyes, letting the natural change occur. She then felt a shift and when she opened her eyes, she knew she was now a bobcat because her sight was different and she could feel how her body was different. Mal shifted in a plume of smoke and then her bobcat form looked to Ruby. With a nod, the two were off, communicating through magic.

Emma was just cleaning up after a lunch of fish and berries when she heard some twigs snapping close to her camp. Just a rabbit she thought, but then her head snapped up when she heard a louder snap. Everything she had read about the animals in Maine previously said that they didn't attack unless they felt threatened and Emma hadn't done anything to threaten an animal. She hadn't even seen anything bigger than a rabbit. 'Maybe it's a bear.' She thought as she kept her ears straining to hear anything. 'Maybe they smelled the fish.' Then she heard a growling of sorts and knew it wasn't a bear. She grabbed her spear as her heart raced seeing a pair of eyes from an opening by her camp. They weren't bear or human eyes and Emma was frozen with fear. 'What was it Ruby said about animals? Don't make eye contact, don't challenge, don't run.' Emma dropped her eyes to the forest floor, still able to make out movement, but not making eye contact. Every part of her wanted to run, she even instinctively reached for her magic, but the cuff stopped it. Instead, she slowly sat down, keeping her eyes down so as not to show a sign of dominance. Gods, part of this felt like those nights her and Regina would play, but instead of lustful anticipation in her stomach, she felt nothing but real fear. She put the spear down and put her hands on her knees as she sat with her head down.

'She's doing well.' Mal communicated to Ruby. 'Did you teach her what to do?'

'We talked about it once but I'm surprised she remembered. She's doing everything right.'

Mal blinked in acknowledgement and started stepping out of the woods and into the clearing. She gave off the predatory air of a bobcat as she slowly circled the camp. Ruby did the same in the opposite direction. They could both smell Emma's fear, but kept circling, moving closer.

Emma's head was spinning as she realized there were two of them. Her heart was pounding so loud in her head, she was sure the animals could hear it. 'Where's Regina? She put that magic on me so she would be able to sense if I was in danger. She should be here.' Emma thought as tears built in her eyes. 'Great, there you go relying on her again. No, Emma, you can do this. You can get through it and you'll be okay.' Regina could sense Emma's fear and it took everything inside of her not to rush to her. Mal had told her when they'd be out there and so she watched, knowing Emma was actually safe. Henry held his breath, even though he knew his mother wasn't actually in danger, it still scared him a little.

Emma carefully, slowly, and sneakily grabbed rocks as the animals circled her. She wasn't sure what, if anything, she'd do with them, but they made her feel better. Mal stepped closer, up to the fire now and licked at the water in the pot Emma had used, keeping an eye on the blonde as she did so. She wasn't going to hurt Emma, that was never the plan, but she and Ruby knew they couldn't both just leave. Emma had to give them a reason to, Emma had to be brave and try to get out of this. 'In five seconds, look towards the east with your ears perked like we've heard something. Maybe if we break eye contact, she'll do something"

"Good idea." Ruby was starting to feel bad for Emma as she could smell and hear her fear. They counted to five and both looked away, perked as if spooked. In that split second, Emma chucked a heavy rock behind her so that the animals crouched as in fear and then ran away. The blonde had no idea that would actually work and for a while, she was so frozen with fear they would come back that she didn't move.

Finally, Emma let out a breath and lay back panting with relief. "I fucking did it!" She said out loud, even letting out a little laugh. "I did it." She then set to work getting rid of the fish remains, hoping it would take the scent away.

Mal sent a message to Regina saying they were done, but that both of them wanted to spend time in their new forms for a while. She wanted her to know that from here on out, if Emma was scared, it wasn't because of them.

**Night 3/Day 4**

That night brought in a torrential rain and thunder storm. Emma hated thunder and lightning due to a particularly bad experience in her past, so she sat in her 'tent' and held her knees to her chest. She had made a small pit in the tent and was able to transport some of the flames to it so she wouldn't be freezing all night. Her tent was actually really well done and she was staying dry and warm, but it couldn't keep out the bright lights and the booms and those were the things that made Emma want to cry and give up. More than once she had almost taken the cuff off, but then stopped herself. 'You're an adult, Emma, you can do this. You're not that kid that's alone and scared who was purposely locked out during a storm. You're stronger than she was, and you don't have to scream and cry for safety.' Of course that thought only brought back the memories and Emma couldn't go down that path right now. Instead, she turned the camera on and took a breath.

 _Night 3 and it's storming like a bitch right now. However, I did something right with this shelter because I'm dry and thanks to this…_ magical _fire, I'm warm. I'm not even mad about that nor am I going to take it as a strike against what I'm doing. Thank you to whoever did that, though I have practiced now and can make a fire on my own. It was nice to have it when I needed it though." There was a crack of lighting followed by an intense rumble of thunder and Emma was shaking. "I'm not cold. I…I'm scared. There, I said it. I admitted it. I'm scared. I've been scared of thunderstorms ever since I was four years old." Emma sighed and let her hair down, running her fingers through it. "I'll probably just delete this anyway, so I may as well let it out while it's festering."_

"I feel bad watching this." Cora said, standing up. "It's fun to watch her do the camp life stuff, fishing, and trying to not hurt herself, but when she gets personal like this, I feel like I'm invading her privacy. I'm not saying you all can't watch, but I'm not going to. Love you all." Cora said, and then left.

Zelena, Ruby, and Lilly all agreed and bid their fair wells as Snow looked at Regina. "If you want me to go, I will, but…Regina she never tells me this stuff. She never talks to me about her past because she thinks it'll make me feel guilty. I do feel guilty, but it's not her fault, and obviously, she needs to get it out."

"I understand and I think you should stay." Regina assured her.

"I think you should too, but I think I should go. I love Ma, and I know she doesn't keep things from me to hurt me, but I feel like these are things I should let her tell me on her own. Things she may think make me think less of her, even though it's totally not true."

"I understand, Henry. She love you, you know."

"I know. Good night."

Regina took a drink of her wine. "Ready?"

Snow nodded, taking a breath. "Ready."

" _You all know I had a crappy childhood. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious since I still have issues from it, but I purposely don't go into detail if I don't have to. Partly because…well they're my stories to tell, partly because I don't want anyone feeling guilty over what happened, and partly because I don't want to be looked at with pity. I hate that. I hate people feeling sorry for me. It was what it was and it's over now. I don't want a pity party." She took a breath as more thunder and lightning came. "When I was 4, I had just moved to my third foster home in six months after finding out I was adopted and then given away. I know most people don't believe you can remember things from when you were 4, but I did. Something about trauma and all that, but unfortunately, all the memories are there. Anyway, I was in foster home three and honestly still learning the rules of being a foster kid. Don't ask for anything, don't cry for any reason, don't expect anything, and don't ever ask to be hugged or to cuddle. Never. I did later find out that wasn't true of all homes, but I was four and was just trying to be good enough for a family to want to keep me. Anyway, I'm in my room with two other girls who, even though they were older, they let me have a nightlight in there. We were sleeping when the storm came. It was so loud and bright and scary and then the power went out, sending me into pitch dark. I screamed and wet the bed before I could stop myself. One of the girls rushed over and put her hand over my mouth telling me I needed to shut up and calm down before it was too late. Apparently, it was already too late because the next thing I knew, I'm being dragged out of my room to the back door. I was begging him to let me go as I cried and shook, but he didn't. He told me I had to get over my fear and threw me outside and locked the door. The rain was pouring, thunder booming and lighting making everything seem even scarier. No one could hear my screaming over the storm and even if they could, no one would have saved me." Emma wiped at her eyes. "Just a four year old little girl standing outside in the storm and no one cared. Lighting struck a tree and a big branch fell just feet from me and I was more terrified than I ever had been. In the end, that was my saving grace because a neighbor called the police and when they came, they saw me, wrapped me in a blanket and took me away. He thought he was 'curing me of my fear', but in all honesty, it just made my fear worse." Emma jumped as more thunder struck and then she closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the panic. "I can do this. I will do this. I'm not her anymore, I'm stronger now." She said, forgetting she was recording. The camera did turn off eventually and Emma hugged herself as she tried to sleep through the storm._

"That's it!" Snow said standing, anger written all over her face. "I'm going to find out who these monsters were and kill them. How dare they do that to my baby, to any baby?! Who the hell does that to a child?!" She was yelling and crying and all she wanted to do was find her baby girl and hold her so tight she would never be scared again.

Regina wiped her own tears. "I know, Snow. I don't know how Emma ever became the wonderful person she is with people treating her like that for so long. I know that you want to do what I want to do and go and hold her, but she needs to get through this. She needs this for herself."

"Can we at least try and find the bastards?"

Regina couldn't help but chuckle at her mother in law's words. "I will do what I can, but you and I both know that going and finding them and killing them isn't going to erase anything and will only cause more trouble. However, I can make sure they are not fostering, they are no longer employed, and their lives suck." She said with a grin.

"Good. It's not enough, but you're right, we can't make it worse." Snow sighed and finished her lemonade. "I should probably get home."

"Either you stay here or you let me magic you home. You're not driving in this weather while you're all, understandably, upset."

Snow took some deep breaths and relented. "I should probably stay here. If I go home, I'll end up telling David and he'll talk me into a trip to Boston to find him." She chuckled, though she knew that's exactly what would happen. "If you really don't mind."

"I don't mind. Call him while I get the room ready."

The next day, the storm continued, but it wasn't as scary when there was still some daylight. Dreary, but light, and Emma could handle that. However, she was hungry and mad at herself for not being prepared. When the rain let up a little, she ventured out to where she had found berries the day before and picked some. She thought she was picking the same as before, but did notice they looked a little different. She never ready anything about Maine having poisonous berries, so she trusted them. An hour later, however, she was regretting that as her body tried to rid it's self of the food in any possible way. She felt terrible, weak, cold, hungry, and tired, but she was also stubborn and didn't want to give up. 'I just need something else.' She thought, thinking that if she had other food, her body may not be so angry with her. With the rain now a slow drizzle, she grabbed her spear and went to the water. The stream was murky and harder to see through and caused her to trip a few times. The third time she fell, she cut her knee and didn't have the energy to get up. 'I'm stronger than this. I can do this. I _have_ to do this.' She told herself as her vision started blurring and darkening at the edges. "I have to do this." She said out loud, before the darkness took over and she passed out.

Regina was cleaning up the living room as Snow was getting ready to go when something came over her and she froze. "Emma..."

"What's wrong?" Henry asked, concerned.

"Something is wrong with Emma. I have to go to her, please stay here and I'll call you." Regina said before disappearing in smoke. When she appeared at Emma's camp, it took her a while to find her wife laying on her side in the stream. "No! Emma!" She rushed to her, not caring that her $300.00 dollar shoes would be ruined or that she was wearing a design label pair of pants. She went to her wife and knelt down, holding her head above the water. She saw the cut on her knee and the purple hew to her lips and quickly transported them to the hospital. "I need a doctor now!" She yelled as she appeared in the waiting room.

"What is going on?" Whale asked, rushing over. "Why are you both wet, why is she naked? What happened to her knee?"

"She was doing this Naked and Afraid challenge, and something happened. I found her passed out in the stream. Please help her."

Whale put Emma on a stretcher and the nurses rushed her back. He looked to Regina. "I'm not even going to ask what Naked and Afraid is, but do you know if she's eaten anything?"

"When I checked on her an hour ago, she was eating berries." She described them to him and he gave a nod.

"I'll be back as soon as we know what's going on. It's good you didn't use magic since we don't know what the source is. Try not to panic."

Regina let out a strained sob at that as he turned and rushed back to Emma. "Don't panic? That's my wife." She said to no one and then slumped on a chair. She called Henry and he with Snow and David came to the hospital. "I have no answers yet, I'm sorry." She told them what she knew and then paced. "I never should have let her do this. I never should have challenged her."

"It isn't your fault, Regina." David said softly. "We all know Emma, she would have done this anyway. She used your challenge as an excuse."

"She'll be okay, right mom?" Henry asked, tears brimming in her eyes.

"It's Emma." Snow said, trying to be brave. "She'll fight and be okay."

Even with her eyes closed Emma knew it was too bright and she was to warm. She could feel the blanket over her and then heard the beeping of machines. When she opened her eyes, she had to blink a few times before they adjusted and she realized she was in the hospital.

"Emma? Oh baby, I'm so glad you're awake." Regina said softly from her side and Emma looked over.

"What happened? Did I make it five days? Please tell me I made it five days."

Regina sighed and stood, coming closer and stroking Emma's cheek. "You were severely dehydrated, had to have twenty stitches on your knee, have a bad infection in your foot and ate some berries that caused your stomach to freak out on you. I'm sorry, it wasn't five days, but you did so well baby. You are stronger than you even know. I'm so proud of you and you should be proud of yourself."

Emma groaned and put her head back on the pillow. "I am in a fucking hospital and didn't even make it five days. I'm a failure at everything. I can't fricken do anything right." She said as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Oh my love, stop with that and look at me. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen. You don't fail at anything, Emma, other than believing in yourself. Let's go back to when we first met, hell, let's go back further. You were a child in a world with no one. A child who people treated like garbage and who believed what people said to her about herself. You were tossed from one crappy situation to another, and yet you became the most loving mother I've ever seen to Henry. You did the most selfless thing in putting him up for adoption because you loved him so much. You could have easily and understandably become someone so depressed and so into her own misery, but you didn't. You were strong, Emma, so strong and loving and nothing anyone could have expected. Statistically, you beat the odds, you became someone to look up to. Emma, then you came here and faced not only the scariness of being with your son, but being against me of all people. You came here and started a new life, made friends, and easily gained your place in our hearts. You broke the curse, Emma! And no, before you say all you did was kiss Henry, you did much more than that. You believed. Emma, you believed when all logic was against it, but you believed because of your love for your son. You slayed a dragon for crying out loud, and risked your life countless times for so many, myself included. Then you were blindsided with the fact that you have parents, you have family and a title and you took it all in. You had to adjust again, because you lost a friend, but gained a mother. You fought for me, believed in me when you'd have had every right to blame me and hate me for your life, but you were above all that. You fought Pan, you fought darkness, you've fought every single thing that has ever threatened not only your friends and family, but the town. You fought yourself, Emma, and you came through it. You fought your way into my heart and into my life and broke down not only my walls, but your own so that we could be together. Emma, you are the strongest person I know. So you lasted three nights instead of four, and four days instead of five, you lasted. You pushed through and survived, Emma. Yes, you're in a hospital, but that's because I brought you here. Whale said you would have woken up and you probably would have made it the five days, but you'd have been here after that with more serious infections and dehydration. Emma, you did it. You are strong and one more night wouldn't change that fact. I am so proud of you and I will not let you punish yourself for this."

Emma wiped her eyes and pulled Regina into a kiss. When they parted, Emma lay back and let out a sigh. "Thank you. I kinda thought you'd think this was all stupid, but you actually get it. You get why I had to do this."

Regina bit her lip, knowing she had to be honest. "Don't get mad, Emma, but I watched you…we watched you." She explained everything and hoped Emma wouldn't get mad.

Emma sat there and then started laughing. "Seriously? The bobcats were Ruby and Mal?"

"Yes. You're not mad?"

"I mean, I kind of feel a little violated because I did get deep and raw, but I get it. I'd have done the same thing if it were someone else doing it. Thanks for at least blurring out my nakedness." She sighed. "I want to go home. I want to sleep in our bed and in your arms. I want to see our kid and eat warm food and never eat fish again."

Regina chuckled. "That's too bad. I made some cod." She smiled. "I'm joking. You'll be able to go soon."

"Did everyone see my video last night?" Emma asked quietly, as she looked down at her blanket.

"Not everyone. They were there, but my mother said she didn't feel right watching, so she and everyone other than me and your mother left. I think the urge to come hold you was stronger for your mother than for me and it was strong for me. Emma, she wants to know those things, to have you talk to her. She wants to be there for you and hold you and love you the way you always should have been loved. I know you think it'll make her feel guilty, and maybe it will, but she needs it just as much as you do."

Emma felt a tear roll down her cheek and she wiped it and nodded. "Maybe I do need it, and maybe she does too."

"Emma, there's something else…well a couple somethings. I'm so sorry that I call you an idiot. I never mean to hurt you and had I known it bothered you, I would have stopped."

Emma blushed, keeping her eyes down. "You saw that part? Regina, I didn't say anything because I know you didn't mean it in a bad way. I know it's a joke and I know it isn't meant to hurt me. It's not your fault that it does, that I think too much and take it too seriously. Besides, I am an idiot sometimes."

"We all are, Emma, but that's not the point. It's not your fault you do that either, you know. It's the fault of those assholes before me who did say those things to hurt you, who did want to get to you, who didn't give a shit about you or your feelings."

"You're not them though."

"I'm not, but I still hurt you and I'm sorry." Regina sighed. "Also, Henry told us about the night you got drunk after our fight."

Emma sighed and closed her eyes. "I never meant to dump that all on him. It just came out and I couldn't stop it."

"It came out because it's how you feel, Emma, and your feelings are valid. However, it's not true. None of us are going to wake up one day and think you're not worth it. None of us are ever going to throw you away or abandon you. Emma, I love you so much and I vowed on our wedding day that I will always love you and be here with you and I don't go back on my vows. Just ask your parents." She said with a smile.

Emma smiled too and then nodded. "I know that. In my heart, I do know that. It's just those stupid insecure voices in my head that make me scared and most of the time, I don't hear them. Most of the time, they're silent. But after we fought and I drank, they were yelling at me and I couldn't get them to shut up. It's hard, Regina. A kid usually hears how great they are, how much they're loved, and all that and so they believe it with no questions asked. But when you're a kid who only ever hears negative, who gets abandoned over and over and who was just never good enough for anyone, it's so hard to stop believing those bad things. I know it's been years. Seven years, but that's against twenty eight years of feeling otherwise. I'll get there, I am working on it. I do go and see Archie, and it is helping. It just takes time."

"I understand, and now that I know, I am here to reassure you every day, just as you reassure me that I'm good enough. I love you, Emma Swan-Mills."

Before Emma could reply, the door opened and Dr. Whale came in. "You're up." He said with a smile. "That's good, because now that you're hydrated, stitched, and bandaged, you can go home. I have a prescription for the infection on your foot and some salve for you to use there and on your cut on your knee. However, if Regina's going to just heal it, don't worry about filling it."

Emma shook her head. "No way. I earned that scar and that infection. I'll take care of it."

Whale shook his head. "Next time you decide to do this, plan ahead and make sure you're physically ready. From what I could tell, you were probably a bit dehydrated before you started and then I was told you had a couple beers before you left. Not a good mix, Emma."

"Yeah well, it wasn't planned. If I do it again, I'll come see you first."

A half hour later, Emma was dressed and being wheeled out (with heavy grumbles about that) to the waiting area. "Why didn't you just magic us home?" Emma asked, hating being vulnerable.

"Because then you'd miss this." Regina said, opening the door to a waiting room full of balloons and people.

"You did it, Emma!" Snow called and came over to hug her.

"What is all this?" Emma asked, feeling a mixture of emotions.

Ruby came over and hugged her friend. "We thought it was overdue for all of us to thank you for everything you've ever done for us."

"You're always willing to put yourself at risk to keep us safe." Belle stated, earning head nods from the others. "You may think you're just our sheriff, but Emma, you'll always be our Savior."

Henry came over and gave his mom an extra-long hug. "Next time, we go as a family, with a tent, and fully clothed. I've never been camping, and I want to go with a pro."

For once in her life, Emma was speechless as her eyes filled with tears and she nodded to Henry. She looked around at all the smiling faces and then at her wife. "Thank you."

"Oh, this wasn't me, dear." She said, nodding to Snow and Charming.

Emma smiled and stood up, not wanting the chair. She hugged both her parents and then greeted the people there. Finally, she had to admit she was exhausted and the little family of three started heading out.

"Oh wait, Emma?" Whale said, coming over and lowering his voice. "I just got the last of your bloodwork back. I'll be seeing you again in two months and then quite regularly for the next seven or eight months."

"What? Why?" Emma asked, as Regina held her breath, not daring to believe what Whale was saying.

"You're pregnant. Congratulations, Savior."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was meant to only be a one shot. However, I’ve gotten many, MANY requests for a second chapter. So, here is the completely unplanned, but very much requested Chapter 2
> 
> Read~Enjoy~Review

****

**_Ch. 2_ **

****

Emma smiled softly as she rubbed the soft skin of her small bump, feeling the flurry of the life moving inside her. She was shocked when Dr. Whale had told her she was pregnant after almost dying from her adventures in the woods. The whole drive home was quiet as she, Regina, and Henry all took in the news. Of course Regina was happy, she’d always wanted a child, even if it was Emma who carried it, but Emma was worried about how Henry felt about it. It only took until that night to find out the kid was happy and excited for a sibling.

Emma was now six months in and loving this round of pregnancy. Not only was it awesome to have magic so she could get whatever she craved, but she wasn’t in jail so all in all, it was a plus. Regina took Emma to the doctor every other week freaking out that something was wrong because she wasn’t ‘as big as she should be’. Whale had tried reassuring Madam Mayor that everything was just fine, but Regina needed to hear about four more doctors tell her the same thing before she’d give up…for that day. Emma swore to her that she was just fine. “Babe, I’m not as big as some other women because I was small to start out with and I was fit. I worked out and still do and I mean, I’ve seen some women even smaller than me when they’re eight months along. Don’t worry. Our little bean is doing just fine.”

Regina smiled in the doorway before coming into the room. “Hey Mama. How’s it going?”

“Fine. Little one is flittering away.”

Regina put her hand on Emma’s belly. “It’s more than flittering; it’s out and out kicking.”

“Stop calling them an it.”

“Well we don’t know what it is yet.”

“It’s a baby. At least call them Baby.”

“Why can’t we find out if it…sorry, if Baby is a boy or a girl?”

Emma sighed. “I want to be surprised. It’s more fun that way.” Emma shook her head. “You know, you’re the one who grew up in the forest and now you want everything done modern. I don’t. I want to be surprised. I want a natural birth at home or…”

“NO! Emma, you will not give birth to that baby out in the woods. We’ve had this discussion over and over.”

Emma gave a pout. “I know, but I just have this…I don’t know, this URGE to have baby out there. Like I would if I was in the Enchanted Forest.”

“Honey, you’re royalty. You would not have had a baby in the woods back in the Enchanted Forest. You would have had a healer, a midwife, and a full room of people to help you.”

Emma pulled her shirt down and crossed her arms, turning away from Regina. “You just don’t get it and you’re not even trying to. You’re taking control of everything and not letting me have a say.” Emma knew she meant some of what she was saying, but the hormones were making her words more fierce than she meant them to be.

Regina took a deep breath, knowing how Emma’s mood swings could be. She rubbed Emma’s back and kissed her shoulder. “Baby, I’m sorry I’m coming off controlling. That’s not my intention. I just…Emma, if something happened to you,” she wrapped an arm around her wife and touched her stomach, “or our little bean, I’d be devastated. At least if you’re in the hospital, you’re already somewhere they can help.”

Emma sniffed, hating the fact that she was even crying over this. “I know you care, but I just feel like this is something I have to do. I just don’t think it’s fair how you just dismiss it like I’m stupid for wanting to do it.”

“Honey, I’m not saying you’re stupid.” Regina said with a sigh, closing her eyes as she tried to calm the situation. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Can we put a pin in this and seriously discuss it later? I promise you I’ll come back with more of an open mind, but we have to get ready for the baby shower.”

Emma sniffed. “You promise you won’t just tell me no and shoot me down right away?”

“I promise.”

Emma turned and gave a little smile. “Okay. Thank you. I’m going to shower.”

An hour and a half later, Emma, Regina, and Henry got to David and Snow’s house, Henry and David quickly saying goodbye and heading out for their time together. Snow hugged Regina and then Emma, touching her bump and making a big deal over it – which Emma secretly loved. Cora, Maleficent, Belle, Ruby, Lilly, and Zelena were all there already and greetings were made by all. They played the normal baby shower games, had the cake and did the gifts before any ‘arguments’ were started. Emma was sitting on a chair, facing Mal and Lilly on the sofa and all three had their heads in close, seriously discussing something. Regina rolled her eyes as she went to refill her glass of champagne.

“What’s that about?” Snow asked. “Is she okay?”

Regina sighed. “Your daughter has it in her head to have our baby out in the woods.”

“What?!” Snow asked, appalled. “You cannot let her do that.”

“Believe me, I don’t want her to, but if I say that then I’m being all ‘controlling and mean’.” She replied, doing the finger quotations. “I get that this is different than when she had Henry. I get that when she had Henry, she felt she had no choice in how anything was done. She didn’t want to be medicated, but they forced her to be. She was handcuffed to the damn bed for crying out loud, I get that. But in the woods? I mean really, does she think she’s part wolf or something?” Regina noticed Ruby give her a look. “No offense.”

Ruby just rolled her eyes and went to join the other three. Regina sighed, knowing the three of them would all be telling Emma to stick her ground. Belle had to leave, but Zelena and Cora came over to Regina and asked what was going on. “Did I just hear that Emma wants to give birth in the woods?” Zelena asked, an amused look on her face.

“Yes.” Regina said, again refilling her champagne. “I have no idea what has gotten into her, nor do I know how I’m going to stop her without upsetting her.”

“It’s easy, Regina.” Cora said, pouring herself more wine. “You are the child’s other mother and you have a say in how the baby is born.”

“I know, but you don’t get it, mom. She _really_ wants this and gets very emotional over it. I’m hoping that me giving into a home birth will be a good enough compromise.”

Zelena looked at Snow. “Did you give birth to her in the woods? When did she become such a hippie?”

Snow scoffed. “No, and I didn’t want to either. I don’t know why she’d want that other than the fact that she must have got in touch with nature during that silly challenge.”

“Be assertive, Emma. I know we love her and all, but she easily slips back into Queen mode and you are not one of her subjects. If you want to have that baby in the woods, you have that baby in the woods.” Lilly said, taking Emma’s hand.

“Damn right.” Ruby said, clinking her glass with Emma’s glass of ice water.

“We can make it safe.” Mal stated. “I mean, it’s not like you can’t have a blanket or something under you. I get it, it’s so natural.”

“I want to just be with nature while I do one of the most natural things in the world. I want to pull baby from between my legs and lay them on my chest, feel their heartbeat with mine, hold them.” Emma said, her eyes filling with tears. “Hold them like I couldn’t hold Henry. I just…I can’t explain it good enough to Regina, but I just feel so much more myself when I’m out there. She can be there. It’s not like I’m saying I want to do it alone, I just don’t want to be in a hospital, drugged up and stuck in a bed. I have so many terrible memories in hospitals.”

Ruby put her hand on Emma’s knee. “Then you do what you want to do. Stand firm and don’t give in.”

“Emma, you’re going to know when you’re ready to have that baby. Your body will tell you and when that happens, you are in control.” Mal stated. “Though it would be better to have her cooperation, in the end, she’s just going to be happy to be a mother.”

Emma looked over at Regina and sighed, sitting back. “Great. How much do you want to bet she’s talking to our moms about this? Now I’ll have them on my back too.”

“Yeah, well she’ll have us on her back.” Ruby said, Lilly nodding in agreement.

Emma sat and rubbed her stomach. “I’ve let her make all the calls so far. I’ve gone to every appointment she made, I’ve changed my diet, I’ve taken all the natural vitamins and done all the meditation she’s asked me to, but the one thing I want, she won’t even consider. How far is that?”

The other three looked over to Regina and Mal sighed. “Not fair at all.”

Regina could feel eyes on her and looked over. “Great, look at them looking at me like I’m scum.”

“Oh for crying out loud.” Zelena said and cleared her throat. “Okay, obviously everyone knows what is going on and everyone has their opinions on it. Let’s not forget that this is Regina and Emma’s baby.”

“Emma and Regina’s.” Lilly countered.

Zelena rolled her eyes. “Okay, Emma and Regina’s baby. It’s not ours and we shouldn’t …”

“You are not having my grandchild in the woods.” Cora said, not able to stop herself. “What the hell are you thinking, dear? A baby in the dirty woods?”

“A baby in nature!” Mal said, glaring at the woman. “She wants to do the most natural thing in the middle of nature.” Mal then smirked. “Besides, didn’t you birth Zelena outside?”

“That was completely different! I didn’t have a choice!”

“Well I do!” Emma said, trying to stand, but her stomach slowing her down. “I have a choice for once and I want to have this baby my way!” She looked at Regina, pleading with her. “I didn’t have a choice before, Regina. I was handcuffed and forced medication I didn’t want. I…I want to have freedom with this one, Regina. I want to do this my way.” She was shaking and had tears escaping her eyes, but damnit, she wanted to be heard.

Regina hated seeing Emma like this and she went to her and wrapped her arms around her. “Baby, I get it. I do. I understand that you didn’t have a say in anything before and you do now, but honey, I’m scared for you to do this like that. I’m scared that something may go wrong or you or the baby will get an infection. I’m terrified that I’m going to lose you.” Regina felt her own tears. “Emma, everyone I’ve ever loved, I’ve lost. I cannot lose you, especially if it could have been prevented.”

Shit. Emma had no idea Regina was that scared. She hugged her back and sighed. “I do understand what you’re saying, Regina. I hear you and I’m listening. I just…I really, _really_ want this.”

Mal could see that each of them were hurting and wanting to give the other what they wanted, but unable to give up what they wanted for themselves. “Okay, okay. I think you’ve both made amazing points in your favors. Regina, I get that you’re scared and Emma, I get that you want the freedom. What can we do to compromise? Regina, what if we hire a midwife to be there with you two? I’ll stay close by, but not impede on your privacy, but you can call to me if something goes wrong and we will magic them to the hospital. I can talk to the labor and delivery team and make sure they’re ready as well. The midwife can keep in contact with them.”

Emma gave Regina a hopeful look and the brunette could feel her resolve fading. Those green eyes just made it so hard to say no to. “Emma, you have to swear to me that you’ll be honest. Any slightest bit of pain outside the norm and you tell me. Promise me you’ll listen to the midwife and take any and all precautions. I mean it, Emma, I cannot lose you. Losing you would be the loss that would kill me.”

Emma reached over and wiped a tear from Regina’s cheek. “I swear, Regina, I will be completely honest and I will listen to the midwife. I promise you, I will take it very seriously, but you have to realize that I will have some pain. That’s normal, and while I promise to be honest, I need you to promise not to just poof me to the hospital at the first sign of pain. It’s gonna hurt, and I’m going to express that.”

Regina nodded. “I know. I’ll feel better with a midwife though and I want to be there, Emma. I know you want to be one with nature, but I want to be there too.”

Emma took Regina’s hand and kissed it. “Baby, I never imagined doing it without you.” She leaned forward and kissed her wife, causing the others to smile softly at their love.

“Regina! You’re doing this on purpose!”

“I am not!”

“We have four weeks and you have interviewed six midwives, all of whom were more than capable of doing the job. I swear, you’re only doing this so I can’t have the birth I want to have!” Emma was pacing back and forth in Regina’s home office.

Regina sighed. “Emma, I swear I’m not. No one has been good enough! I’m not having some twelve year old watch over my wife as she gives birth.”

Emma scoffed. “SHE WAS TWENTY FOUR!”

Regina grit her teeth, wanting – but not wanting to continue this yelling match with her wife. “Baby, please take a deep breath. I don’t need you going into early labor.”

Emma went to the window and pinched the bridge of her nose as she took some deep breaths. “They only have one more midwife we haven’t interviewed. What happens if you don’t approve of them either?”

Regina sighed. “Then I’ll go back over the list, Emma. I will settle and you will have your hippy forest birth.” She said, unable to stop herself as she left the room to take her own little break. She went up the stairs and into the room across the hall from theirs. With all the bickering about Emma’s birth plan, Regina was still surprised that the got the nursery done. In fact, they didn’t fight about anything else; even the names they had ready once their baby was born. Regina sat on the rocking chair and caressed the soft fur of the stuffed monkey Henry had gotten for the baby. She didn’t want to keep fighting over this; she didn’t want this to be something that would be negative in Emma’s life after all the negativity she’d already had.

Emma slumped in a chair, wiping her eyes again. She hated how much she was crying, but she couldn’t stop herself. She completely understood Regina’s fear, but she really thought they had made a compromise that worked. She wasn’t trying to be selfish at all, but she really wanted this to work. However, she didn’t want this over her own damn marriage. Emma stood and opened the door and was surprised to see Regina on the other side. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. Emma, I don’t want to fight about this and I don’t want this to be more negative memories for you. I promise, I am trying here.”

“I know you are and I know you’re scared. I’m sorry I’m being selfish.”

“You’re not.” Regina looked at the clock. “Okay, the last one should be here soon. I have an open mind and am ready.”

Emma kissed Regina. “Thank you.”

An hour later, Regina smiled as she showed the woman to the door. “I look forward to working with you.”

“And I you. I’ll start checking in every day, but you two are already doing so well that I don’t think you’ll really need my help until you’re ready to give birth, Emma. Your medical records for the pregnancy look great and I think we’ll have a very healthy baby on our hands.”

“Thank you so much.” Emma said, waving her off.

“See? We just had to find the right one.” Regina said, closing the door.

Emma rolled her eyes. “What made her different from the others?”

“Well, she’s older and more experienced and she actually assisted with births in the Enchanted Forest that were in the forest.”

“Yeah, she’s as old as Granny.” Emma grumbled as she made her way to the fridge. “But whatever, you like her so that’s fine.”

“Pearl is not as old as Granny.” Regina stated, crossing her arms.

“Her name is Pearl.” Emma said with a laugh.

“Hey, at least I found someone I like. You can now have your baby in the woods.”

Emma smiled and kissed Regina’s cheek. “Thank you.”

The two made themselves some sundaes and enjoyed the rest of the day.

“Henry! Call your mother. It’s time!” Emma said as she took a deep breath and sat by the stream. Against Regina’s judgment, Emma had come out about two weeks ago and set up for her baby. Henry came with her as Regina refused to ‘camp out’. Of course, Regina was calling Emma almost every hour, but they were both reasonably happy. Regina appeared in a flash with Pearl and Emma could sense Mal close by. “Mal, you can come into the clearing. You too, mom, Cora, Lilly, and Zelena.”

The five stepped out and magic was used to keep them comfortable as Pearl checked Emma over. She was able to take her blood pressure and everything that made Regina feel safe. A large blanket was set out and Emma laid on it, letting Regina use magic to conjure up pillows. She didn’t need them, but Regina was out in the woods with her, so she’d let her do that to make her feel better.

“Mom, no offense, but I’m going back to town. I love you and I can’t wait to see the baby, but I don’t want to see the baby being born.” Henry said, kissing Emma’s cheek and then Regina’s.

“Okay, kid. We’ll call you when it’s over.”

“Emma, you’re already pretty far along.”

“I know. I’ve been feeling it for a while, but I didn’t want Regina out here before she needed to be.”

“Emma.” Regina said, shaking her head. “Thanks.” She said with a chuckle.

Regina situated herself behind Emma, rubbing her shoulders and helping her through her breathing. Emma was going all out in this and had stripped down, wanting to be ready for skin to skin contact with her little one. Pearl knew that, and had been ready. “So long as everything goes well, I’m giving you a half hour before we wrap baby up in a blanket. Yes, the weather is nice, but baby needs to be warm.”

“I can wrap a blanket around us; I just want to feel them against me.”

“I know.” Pearl said with a smile. “We ready, Mama’s?”

An hour later, the first cry could be heard. “What is it?” Emma asked Regina.

“A baby.” She said with a chuckle, tears in her eyes at their little miracle. “A beautiful baby girl.”

Regina cut the cord and the bundle was handed to Emma who placed her right on her chest. She was holding her daughter; her precious little girl. “Is she okay? She seems small.”

“She’s perfect.” Pearl said, doing what they had to do with afterbirth. “I can weigh her later, but Emma, she’s perfect.”

Regina curled herself into her wife and pulled the blanket up once Emma was all cleaned up. Emma looked at her wife. “Take your shirt off. Regina let her feel you and you feel her.”

“You really are a hippy.” Regina chuckled but did as Emma asked. They shifted so they were both touching their baby, three hearts beating as one. “Our little miracle.” Regina said fondly. “We are not cleaning her in the stream.”

Emma couldn’t help but laugh and then kissed Regina softly. “Thank you for letting me do this.”

“Thank you for not leaving me.”

After the half hour, Pearl took the baby while Regina used her magic to heal Emma and get them dressed. She took the now bundled baby and went over to their family. “Everyone, meet our baby girl. Stella Jade Swan-Mills, this is your family.”

Snow took her right away and Zelena went to hug the mothers. “I thought you’d have some name like Rainbow or Moonrock.”

“Well, if she was a boy it would have been River.” Regina said with a smirk.

“Stella means star. She’s our little star.” Emma said, her eyes locked on their baby.

That night, Regina and Emma lay with Stella between them. Regina kissed Emma. “Thank you. Thank you for our children.”

Emma smiled softly. “Thank you for being their mom. I love you so much, Regina and I’m sorry for…”

“Nothing. Emma, you have nothing to be sorry for. You had the birth you wanted, I have my wife and baby, we have everything we wanted.”

“We do. I can’t wait to take her camping.”


End file.
